Payroll Audits to Begin for Workers' Compensation Program

Few words make one anxious on the spot like the word "AUDIT." But ACCG continues to make the process of annual payroll audits, which begin in February, as painless as possible. ACCG recently hired a dedicated payroll auditor with Georgia county experience for the insurance program. Lisa Wood, formerly with Affinity Service Group, has conducted 40 percent of the audits for the ACCG Workers’ Compensation Program (ACCG-GSIWCF) over the past nine years. 

 "In the years I have conducted payroll audits, I have noticed the word ‘audit’ bring out a range of emotions including fear, nervousness and intimidation. I have worked with members over the years to ease those fears. Members already have the information we need, so it is just a matter of pulling the records," said Wood. "We are here to assist them with proper classification, so they are charged the correct premium for their risks. For example, we may be given the entire budgeted payroll for the sheriff’s office which includes the clerical staff, but we move the clerical payroll to the lower rated clerical class code vs. the higher rated law enforcement code."

Why is an audit even necessary? Why do members sometimes receive another invoice for the same policy period? All workers’ compensation insurance premiums are originally based on estimated payroll by class(ification) code by employee, which is provided by the insured organization. Each class code has its own rate based on the risk associated with the job duties being performed, so it is very important that employees are properly classified. Rates are applied per $100 of remuneration. This is where your initial premium is determined, and then other factors are applied, such as volume discounts, safety discounts, claims experience discounts or charges, and deductible credits (where applicable).

After the policy period ends, a payroll audit is conducted to verify the actual wages paid to all employees and to verify employees are properly classified based on their job description and exposure. For overtime wages, a reduction for the half or double time wage paid is applied, so only the wages paid at regular time wage are included in the calculation.

The 1099s for payments to subcontractors are also reviewed as well as certificates of insurance evidencing their own workers’ compensation coverage. If the subcontractor is uninsured and performs regular or recurring services for the county, these subcontractors may be picked up on audit based on the information provided to the auditor. If these uninsured subcontractors were not included in the estimated payroll figures, this would generate an additional premium.

If the county has a resolution to provide workers’ compensation coverage for volunteers, the volunteers on the audit are based on the rosters provided that list each active volunteer for the policy period.  Depending on the estimated number of volunteers for the policy period, versus the actual number of volunteers provided by roster, this could generate a change in the premium. Therefore, it is important to keep your volunteer rosters up-to-date with only active volunteers. 

Once determined by the auditor, the actual payroll by class code is used to calculate the final premium for the prior year. That is compared to the estimated premium to determine if there will be a balance due invoice or a refund.

It may be challenging for a staff person to accurately estimate the payrolls when they are due to the ACCG in September for the following calendar year. It is difficult to accurately predict overtime, mid-year raises, added employees, uninsured subcontractors and changes in volunteer rosters. That is why an audit is necessary for workers’ compensation. It is also necessary to assure proper rates are being charged and collected for the risks being covered so that premiums are equitable by member.

The ACCG – Group Self-Insurance Workers’ Compensation Fund (GSIWCF) is a member-owned fund, so know that the ACCG staff is here to help. Please contact Lisa Wood with any questions or concerns about the payroll audit process or the results of your audit. She can be reached at 404.308.5760 (cell) or lwood@accg.org.